sign in sign up
<<
Home , Hans Swarowsky, Karl V (opera), Laura Aikin, Matthew Rose (bass), Mostly Mozart Festival, Ode to Joy

Budapest Festival Orchestra

Iván Fischer Conductor

Richard Goode / Piano

Laura Aikin / Kelley O’Connor / Mezzo-Soprano Robert Dean Smith / Matthew Rose /

UMS Choral Union Scott Hanoian / Music Director

Friday Evening, February 10, 2017 at 8:00 Hill Auditorium Ann Arbor

38th Performance of the 138th Annual Season 138th Annual Choral Union Series Tonight’s supporting sponsors are the Karl V. Hauser and Ilene H. Forsyth Choral Union Endowment Fund, Sesi Motors, and Jim Toy, in honor of Regent Laurence B. Deitch. As Regent Deitch concluded his 24 years of service as a U-M Regent in December, Jim Toy, longtime UMS concertgoer and founder of U-M’s Spectrum Center, wished to honor the outstanding service of Regent Deitch and his advocacy for the human and civil rights of all people with a gift that will support a UMS performance both this season and next. Media partnership provided by WGTE 91.3 FM and WRCJ 90.9 FM. The Steinway piano used in this evening’s performance is made possible by William and Mary Palmer. Special thanks to Tom Thompson of Tom Thompson Flowers, Ann Arbor, for his generous contribution of lobby floral art for this evening’s performance. The Festival Orchestra and Richard Goode appear by arrangement with Frank Solomon Associates and International Arts Foundation, Inc. Richard Goode records for Nonesuch. In consideration of the artists and the audience, please refrain from the use of electronic devices during the performance. The photography, sound recording, or videotaping of this performance is prohibited. PROGRAM

Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21

Adagio molto — Allegro con brio Andante cantabile con moto Menuetto: Allegro molto e vivace Finale: Adagio — Allegro molto e vivace

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58

Allegro moderato Andante con moto Rondo: Vivace

Mr. Goode

Intermission

Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in d minor, Op. 125

Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso Scherzo: Molto vivace — Presto Adagio molto e cantabile Presto — Allegro molto assai (Alla marcia) — Andante maestoso — Allegro energico, sempre ben marcato

Ms. Aikin, Ms. O’Connor, Mr. Smith, Mr. Rose, UMS Choral Union

3 SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN C MAJOR, OP. 21 (1800)

Ludwig van Beethoven Born December 16, 1770 in Bonn, Germany Died March 26, 1827 in Vienna

UMS premiere: Orchestra conducted by Saul Caston; May 1936 in Hill Auditorium.

Snapshots of History…In 1800: · The US Library of Congress is founded in Washington, DC · Christmas Day first becomes a public holiday on an international scale · President John Adams becomes the first US President to live in the Executive Mansion (later renamed the White House)

The energy with which the 22-year- was one significant lacuna in this list, old Beethoven threw himself however, and Beethoven began to fill into Viennese music life is truly it simultaneously with his work on the astounding. As he was leaving his Septet: he couldn’t fully be an heir native Bonn for Vienna in 1792, one of Haydn and Mozart until he wrote a of his patrons, Count Waldstein symphony. inscribed the following in the young There is certainly plenty of Haydn and man’s book of souvenirs: “With the Mozart in Beethoven’s first symphony, help of assiduous labor you shall finished a few months after his 29th receive Mozart’s spirit from Haydn’s birthday. But the young composer’s hands.” Thus, Waldstein became the originality is evident from every bar of first person to mention Haydn, Mozart, the music. Beethoven clearly took over and Beethoven in the same breath. where Haydn and Mozart had left off; The prophecy came true: Beethoven and if he remained within the Classical soon became the most talked-about symphonic framework established by musician in the imperial capital, his elders (something he would never equally famous as a composer and a do again in a symphony), he spoke the pianist, courted by the aristocracy and inherited language in such an individual admired by the public. way that no contemporary could fail to Beethoven’s first 20 opus numbers, notice the arrival of a major new voice published between 1795 and 1801, on the musical scene. cover just about every current genre The First Symphony was introduced of instrumental music: two piano at the Court Theatre on April 2, 1800. concertos; sonatas for solo piano, The program was made up entirely for violin and piano, for cello and of works by Haydn, Mozart, and piano; string trios, piano trios, string Beethoven; this was the first time the quartets, quintets, as well as the composers now known as the three Septet in E-flat which became the Viennese classics appeared together most popular of all his works. There on a concert bill.

4 Right at the beginning of his by its almost total lack of harmonic symphony, the indomitable young movement; this stasis contrasts with man made a gesture that has been the hectic pace of the main section. cited ever since as a sign of artistic The last movement starts with independence. The very first chord another delicious Beethovenian joke. of the symphony is one that, instead The theme of the movement, which of establishing the home key as starts with a fast upward scale, is born one would expect, immediately gradually before our eyes (or ears), destabilizes it and leads away from it. as the notes of the scale are piled This surprising opening gambit sets up, one by one, in a solemn “Adagio” the stage for a brilliant movement filled tempo. Once the top note of the with many more musical surprises. scale is reached, the tempo becomes The second movement, in a gently “Allegro molto e vivace,” and there is rocking 3/8 time, uses melodic never a moment of rest until the end. imitation and other contrapuntal techniques to build up its texture from unaccompanied violins to tutti. Haydn and Mozart left out the trumpets and kettledrums from most of their slow movements. Beethoven chose to retain them, but asked them something they were not often required to do, namely play softly. The pianissimo notes of the trumpets and timpani add an element of mystery. The third movement is called “Menuetto,” but its character is more that of a scherzo; in other words, it is not a dance but one of those witty, humorous fast movements that originated with Haydn but had acquired a special significance for Beethoven since his earliest Viennese works. Beethoven liked to base his scherzos on single musical gestures, often consisting of only two or three notes; the treatment of these gestures was full of surprises, sudden key changes, offbeat accents, and other unexpected events. This delightful movement is no exception. Scherzos also have contrasting sections called trios (as do minuets). The trio of Beethoven’s First Symphony is distinguished

5 PIANO CONCERTO NO. 4 IN G MAJOR, OP. 58 (1805–06)

Beethoven

UMS premiere: Chicago Symphony Orchestra and pianist Wilhelm Backhaus conducted by Frederick Stock; May 1922 in Hill Auditorium.

Snapshots of History…In 1806: · The British occupy the Cape of Good Hope · The Lewis and Clark Expedition reaches St. Louis, Missouri, ending a successful exploration of the Louisiana Territory and the Pacific Northwest · Noah Webster publishes his first American English dictionary

The first three Beethoven concertos the many unexpected modulations in represent a gradual line of evolution, the movement leads to an expressive gradually moving away from the melody played pianissimo in the Mozartian models and culminating highest register of the instrument. in No. 5, the magnificent “Emperor” It makes use of notes that had only Concerto in E-flat Major. No. 4 seems recently been added to the keyboard; to fall outside that line. It is every bit as it is interesting to observe that revolutionary as the “Emperor,” which Beethoven contrasted the extremely it preceded by three years; yet its tone high range of the melody with a is characterized by a unique mixture left-hand accompaniment that is of cheerfulness and lyricism with extremely low. The effect is magical. occasional touches of mystery. The The second-movement “Andante first movement is gentle yet extremely con moto” is an impassioned powerful. The finale is playful and witty dialog between the piano and the yet has its dream-like moments. And strings that seems to cry out for a in between, there is an “Andante con programmatic explanation. In 1985, moto” that doesn’t resemble anything musicologist Owen Jander interpreted Beethoven ever wrote before or after the movement as “Orpheus in Hades,” the Fourth Concerto. with Orpheus pleading with the Furies The first surprise occurs in the of the Underworld for the life of his very first measure of the concerto. wife, Eurydice. Having won Eurydice The usual orchestral introduction is back, Orpheus broke his vow not to preceded by a piano solo consisting look at her during their way home and of a few simple chords played almost lost her forever. as if in a dream. The orchestra enters Jander supported his claims in a different key, eventually finding by some biographical evidence. its way back to G Major. From here on, An acquaintance of Beethoven’s, the succession of themes follows the composer Friedrich August Kanne, established conventions, but there are was working on an based on many irregularities in the tonal plan the Orpheus myth around the time and its harmonic elaboration. One of Beethoven composed his concerto.

6 Kanne, who wrote both the and the score of his opera, included a passage where Orpheus and the chorus of the Furies alternate in one- line speeches very much in the manner of Beethoven’s piano-string dialog. He also represented the final tragedy in ways that, as Jander demonstrated, are comparable with the truly extraordinary effects in the second half of Beethoven’s movement. Beethoven used some special pianistic devices here that, like the high tessitura in the first movement, were first made possible by the new instrument for which the concerto was conceived. He instructed the pianist to play the entire second movement with the una corda pedal, that is, activating only one of the three strings available for each tone. Unlike modern pianos, the fortepiano of Beethoven’s time was able to produce a noticeable shift from one to two and three strings, and this shift greatly enhances the dramatic effect of the movement. In a gesture Beethoven was particularly fond of, the third-movement “Rondo” starts in the “wrong” key: for several measures, C Major is suggested before the “correct” G Major is established in a clearly audible tonal “switch.” The cheerful mood of the movement is occasionally tempered by more serious moments, but the ending, culminating in a vigorous presto, is one of the happiest Beethoven ever wrote. Like the first movement, the third makes room for a cadenza. Beethoven noted in the score: “The cadenza should be short.” In 1809, he wrote down an example of what he had in mind, perhaps at the request of his pupil, Archduke Rudolph, to whom the concerto was dedicated.

7 SYMPHONY NO. 9 IN D MINOR, OP. 125 (“CHORAL”) (1824)

Beethoven

UMS premiere: Chicago Symphony Orchestra with the UMS Choral Union, soprano Jeanette Vreeland, mezzo-soprano Coe Glade, tenor Arthur Hackett, and bass Theodore Webb, conducted by Frederick Stock; May 1934 in Hill Auditorium.

Snapshots of History…In 1824: · The first American fraternity, Chi Phi, is founded at Princeton University · The last surviving French general of the Revolutionary War, the Marquis de Lafayette, makes a tour of the 24 states in the US and is received by the populace with a hero’s welcome · Australia is officially adopted as the name of the country once known as New Holland

With the Ninth, Beethoven created concluding chorus of the latter begins more than a symphony. Almost as with the words Stürzt nieder, Millionen soon as it was written, the Ninth (Fall to your knees, ye millions) — a became an icon of Western culture close paraphrase of Schiller’s “Ode to for at least two important reasons. Joy,” the text Beethoven used in the Its message affirms the triumph final movement of the Ninth. TheChoral of joy over adversity like no other Fantasy is certainly the most direct piece of music has ever done. Its precursor of the “Choral” Symphony, revolutionary form, its unprecedented but let it also be remembered that size and complexity and, above all, Beethoven’s only opera, , the introduction of the human voice contains another quote from Schiller’s in a symphony, changed the history of poem in its final scene:Wer ein holdes music forever. The work’s import and Weib errungen… (A man who has found the means by which it is expressed a gracious wife…). are both unique: each explains and The poem had preoccupied justifies the other. Beethoven since at least 1792: in Everything in Beethoven’s career that year, an acquaintance of the seems to have prepared the way for composer’s informed Schiller’s sister this exceptional composition. It is the that: culmination of the so-called “heroic style,” known from Symphonies No. 3 A young man…whose talents are and 5, among others. But it is also the universally praised…proposes…to endpoint of a series of choral works compose Schiller’s Freude, and indeed with all-embracing, cathartic, and strophe by strophe. I expect something solemn endings. The series began in perfect for as far as I know him he is wholly 1790 with two cantatas on the death of devoted to the great and the sublime. Emperor Joseph II and the inauguration of Leopold II, respectively; the (continued on page 11)

8 AN ODE TO MAGICAL THINKING by Doyle Armbrust

Maybe we need to try something else. These flags, these gods, these bumper Something drastic. stickers — their divisiveness dissolves Since the presidential election, I at the arrival of this splendid Daughter don’t know how it is over in your silo, of Elysium (a.k.a. Joy). And then the but in my silo I can’t seem to drown out clincher: all the partisan squabbling bleeding in from outside. Netflix bingeing has lost Every man becomes a brother, where thy its opioid effect and dinner with friends gentle wings abide. seems to inevitably funnel toward one topic. Engaging isn’t working Let that sink in for a moment. Consider and disengaging isn’t, either. It might the cable news pundit that makes you take a miracle for us to step out of our want to Clorox your ears when you hear respective trenches. them sermonize. Then consider a world Hang on to that thought for a second. in which you greet each other like My two-year-old can sing the one of those dog-seeing-its-enlisted- “Ode to Joy.” I mean, he’s not all, owner-after-a-tour-of-duty videos. It “Freude, schöner Götterfunken…” sounds absurd, but what, other than or anything, but he’s solid on the something radical, do we have left to try melody because Beethoven, at the at this point? apex of his genius, throws down a Having waited a full three movements fully scalar melody to deliver perhaps before introducing the chorus, his most poignant message to his Beethoven dishes us a snippet of each generation (in Europe, anyway) and to before the bass soloist admonishes, all future generations (of the classical “O friends, not these sounds…” The persuasion, anyway). And because creation of life from the primordial ooze there’s an incredible Muppets sketch of that is the “Allegro ma non troppo,” the Beaker multi-tracking the tune before haymaker of the “Molto vivace,” and characteristically electrocuting himself. the soothing allure of the “Adagio molto e cantabile” are not enough. If we’re going to stop screaming at each other, stop twitching for our holsters — in the composer’s Vienna or in our own republic — it’s going to take “songs full of joy.” Beethoven is even going to do a Jefferson Bible number on Schiller’s poem, cutting out politically-charged lines like “Safety from the tyrant’s What is that message? It certainly power” to make sure we don’t get can’t be reduced to “Come on, let’s all distracted by politics from the humanist get happy.” Joy, says Beethoven…er, utopia he’s pitching. … “Your magics join It’s aspirational, for sure, but not again what custom strictly divided.” so naïve, it turns out. In his stirring

9 documentary, Following the Ninth, brotherhood is no less powerful for it. filmmaker Kerry Candaele traces the Now back to our shores. There was symphony’s reverberations in situations a fair amount of talk about “walls” far more desperate than ours. In Chile, in the recent election season, but General Pinochet locks up and tortures the one that actually materialized is political dissidents — in this case, the one currently carving us up into socialists whose elected government teams for the world’s least amusing he had overthrown in a military coup game of dodge ball. We can’t seem — and how did wives and partners of to count on mutual respect or zesty, these captives respond? By singing fact-based debate any longer. It’s time the “Ode to Joy” at the prison walls, for something unusual, absurd even. infiltrating a dark despair with hope. Or Something that will make you look over what about the standoff at Tiananmen at that gentleman in the row in front Square? There, the “An die Freude” of you, the one taking five full minutes was pumped like a pirate radio signal to unwrap his butterscotch candy, and through loudspeakers to revitalize think affectionately, “My brother.” It’s protesters in an impossible stalemate. going to take a leap of faith, and it’s Beethoven’s score did not, of going to require a killer soundtrack. course, resolve these conflicts. What Maybe you’re here tonight because it achieved was to reveal hope where you read something in the New Yorker hope seemed inconceivable. about the Budapest Festival Orchestra If sentient in 1989, your memories sounding pretty phenomenal with of the teardown of the Berlin Wall Richard Goode on the keys. Maybe may revolve around David Hasselhoff Beethoven is your jam. Maybe your date singing at the Brandenburg Gate, is, like, the LeBron James of planning a night out. Whatever the case, since this is probably not your first time experiencing the Ninth Symphony, may I suggest that tonight, you consider this piece beyond its entertainment value. What if we choose to buy into Beethoven’s magical thinking — that there is a joy so profound that it might just bring us back together? You know, sporting a particularly unfortunate in the spirit of trying something drastic. scarf. You may also recall, though, a rousing performance of the Ninth Doyle Armbrust is a Chicago- by in which the based violist and member of the conductor would make the provocative Spektral Quartet and Ensemble Dal switcheroo of “Freiheit” (freedom) Niente. He is a contributing writer for the original “Freude” (joy). It was for WQXR’s Q2 Music, Crain’s Chicago the Cold War, so perhaps allowances Business, Chicago Magazine, Chicago must be made, but the visual of a Tribune, and formerly, Time Out Chicago. city — literally split by polarized political ideologies — reclaiming its

10 Thus, all musical and literary roads tender,” exclaimed: “Let us sing the converge in the Ninth Symphony. In a song of the immortal Schiller!” way, Beethoven was getting ready to In the end, the “song of the write this work all his life. The actual immortal Schiller” was set in a form compositional work took about a year far removed from the original “strophe and a half, from the summer of 1822 by strophe” notion Beethoven is through February 1824. supposed to have had back in 1792. Beethoven’s plans to set Schiller’s He adopted only four of Schiller’s “Ode to Joy” began to take a new eight strophes, freely repeating and shape in 1816–17, around the time rearranging the lines. (Schiller himself he received a commission for a had published a revised version of his symphony from the Philharmonic poem in 1803, and it is that version Society of London. At this point, he that Beethoven now used.) had two distinct compositions in mind The opening of the symphony, with — a new pair of symphonies similar to its open fifths played in mysterious Nos. 5–6 (1807–08) or 7–8 (1811–12), string tremolos (rapid repeated which had also been conceived in notes), has been described as pairs. But the Tenth Symphony never representing the creation of the progressed beyond a few sketches. world, as the theme emerges from The Ninth remained Beethoven’s last what seems an amorphous, primordial work for orchestra. state. There is an atmosphere of Even though Beethoven had long intense expectancy; the tension planned to set the “Ode to Joy” continually grows until the main to music, he long hesitated over theme is presented, fortissimo, by whether or not the last movement of the entire orchestra. It is significant a symphony was the proper place for that the mysterious opening is such a setting. After sketching the immediately repeated, as it will be choral finale, he appears to have had two more times in the course of the second thoughts and jotted down movement, significantly prolonging ideas for a purely instrumental last the sensation of suspense. The main movement, ideas he later used in his theme is moved into a new key the String Quartet in a minor, Op. 132. He second time, and into an unexpected felt that the introduction of voices one at that. The first movement needed special justification; the of a d-minor symphony normally difficulties he experienced in crossing gravitates upward toward F Major. this particular bridge can be seen Beethoven chose a descent to B-flat from the many stages the introduction instead (incidentally, B-flat will also went through in the sketches. At be the key of the symphony’s slow one point, for instance, the rejection movement). The “Allegro” follows of the themes from the first three the outlines of sonata form, but the movements was entrusted to a singer individual stages of that form do (not the cellos and basses as in not quite function the usual way. In the final version). The singer, after traditional sonata form (Mozart, for dismissing the “Scherzo” as Possen instance), the tensions that build (“farce”) and the “Adagio” as “too up in the development section are

11 resolved in the recapitulation. In the to one commentator, this ending Ninth Symphony, a tendency present suggests an “open-ended” form that in several works from Beethoven’s could “move back and forth between middle period becomes stronger than scherzo and trio endlessly.” In other ever: the tensions keep increasing words, we cannot at this point tell for to the end. The movement’s lengthy sure whether the final outcome will be coda contains some material of a tragic or joyful. highly dramatic character; it ends on First, there is one more stage to a climactic point, without a feeling of complete: the sublime third-movement resolution. “Adagio,” one of Beethoven’s most The first movement is followed by transcendent utterances. It has two a “Scherzo”; this order is unusual in alternating melodies: one majestic, symphonies, though not uncommon in the other tender. Each recurrence of chamber music. Beethoven refrained the first theme is more ornate than the from using the word “scherzo” preceding one while the second theme here, however, because the mood does not change. The movement is dramatic rather than playful. It is culminates in a powerful brass fanfare, based on a motif of only three notes, followed by a wistful epilogue. played in turn by the strings, the We are jolted out of this idyll by timpani (specially tuned at an octave what, in 1824, must have counted instead of the usual fourth), and as the most jarring dissonance ever the winds. The motif is developed written. Wagner referred to this in a fugal fashion, with subsequent sonority as the Schreckensfanfare imitative entrances — this fugal (fanfare of horror), and, at the opening theme appeared in Beethoven’s of the finale, it forcefully suggests that sketchbook as early as 1815. Through we have arrived at a point where all the addition of a second theme, previous rules break down. We can contrasting with the first, the scherzo no longer predict the future on the is expanded into a sonata-like basis of the past; what follows has structure of considerable proportions. absolutely no precedent in the history The trio, or middle section, switches of music. from triple to duple meter, and from In his book on the Ninth Symphony d minor to D Major, anticipating not (published by Schirmer in 1995), David only the key of the finale but the Benjamin Levy interprets the finale as outline of the “Ode to Joy” theme as a four-movement symphony in its own well. For the first time, we reach a right that mirrors the four movements haven of peace and happiness that of the Ninth Symphony itself (opening, foreshadows the finale. But for the scherzo, slow movement, finale). moment, the trio is brushed aside After the fanfare, Beethoven begins by the repeat of the dramatic “Molto the first of these sections by evoking vivace.” At the end, Beethoven the past: the themes of the first leads into the trio a second time, three movements appear, only to be but breaks it off abruptly, to end the emphatically rejected by the dramatic movement with two measures of recitative of the cellos and basses. octave leaps in unison. According The first two-measure fragment of

12 the “Ode to Joy” theme, however, is chorus introduce a new theme (Seid greeted by a recitative in a completely umschlungen, Millionen). If the “Ode” different tone as the tonality changes celebrated the divine nature of Joy, to a bright D Major. this melody represents the Deity in The “Ode to Joy” theme is first its awe-inspiring, cosmic aspect. played by the cellos and basses Whereas the first theme proceeded without any accompaniment. It is entirely in small steps, the second one subsequently joined by several is characterized by wide leaps; this countermelodies (including a sudden expansion in the dimensions particularly striking one in the of the melody conjures up a sense of bassoon) and finally repeated the infinite and God’s throne above triumphantly by the entire orchestra. the starry skies. Then the music suddenly stops and The last section begins with the the Schreckensfanfare unexpectedly two themes heard simultaneously returns, followed by the entrance of in what David Levy calls a “symbolic the soloist who takes up the contrapuntal union of the sacred and last phrase of the earlier instrumental the profane.” The solo quartet returns recitative to lead into the vocal to the first strophe of Schiller’s poem; presentation of the “Ode to Joy.” once more, the music starts anew to As before, during the instrumental rise to new heights of joyful energy. variations, the melody grows and Three slow sections intervene to delay grows in volume and excitement until this final ascent; the second of these (at the words Und der Cherub steht vor (an adagio cadenza for the four solo Gott) there is a new interruption. singers) momentarily brings back The second major section of the memories of the symphony’s slow movement starts here, with the movement. But finally, nothing can scherzo-like “Turkish march” for stop the music from reaching a state tenor solo and a battery of percussion of ecstasy. After the last unison ‘D’ in instruments. It has been dubbed the measure 940, the journey is completed “Turkish march” because of a musical and there is nothing left to say. style influenced by the Turkish janissary bands popular in Vienna at the time Program notes by Peter Laki. (the same influence can be found in several works by Mozart, including the opera The Abduction from the Seraglio). The theme of the “Turkish march” is, of course, a variation on the “Ode to Joy” melody. This episode is followed by an orchestral interlude in the form of a fugue, also based on the “Ode to Joy.” The melody is recapitulated in its original form by the orchestra and chorus, and then the music stops again. In the third section (the “slow movement”), the men from the

13 TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS Text by Ludwig van Beethoven and Friederich Schiller

O Freunde, nicht diese Töne! O friends, not these sounds! Sondern lasst uns angenehmere Let us sing more pleasant and more joyful anstimmen, und freudenvollere. ones instead!

Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Joy, beautiful divine spark, Tochter aus Elysium, daughter from Paradise, Wir betreten feuertrunken, We enter, drunk with fire, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum. Heavenly One, into your sanctuary. Deine Zauber binden wieder Your magic reunites what daily life Was die Mode streng geteilt, Has rigorously kept apart, Alle Menschen werden Brüder All men become brothers Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt. Wherever your gentle wings abide.

Wem der grosse Wurf gelungen, Anyone who has been greatly fortunate Eines Freundes Freund zu sein, To be a true friend to a friend, Wer ein holdes Weib errungen, Each man who has found a gracious wife, Mische seinen Jubel ein! Should rejoice with us! Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele Yes, anyone who can claim but a single soul Sein nennt auf der Erden rund! As his or her own in all the world! Und wer’s nie gekonnt, But anyone who has known none of this, der stehle must steal away, Weinend sich aus diesem Bund. Weeping, from our company.

Freude trinken alle Wesen All beings drink of Joy An den Brüsten der Natur, At Nature’s breasts, Alle Guten, alle Bösen All good creatures, all evil creatures Folgen ihrer Rosenspur. Follow her rosy path. Küsse gab sie uns und Reben, She has given us kisses and vines, Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod, A friend loyal unto death, Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben, Pleasure has been given to the worm, Und der Cherub steht vor Gott. And the angel stands before God.

Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen Happily, as his suns fly Durch des Himmels prächt’gen Plan, Across the sky’s magnificent expanse, Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn, Hurry, brothers, along your path, Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen. Joyfully, like a hero to the conquest.

Seid umschlungen, Millionen! Be embraced, you millions! Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt! This kiss for the entire world! Brüder! überm Sternenzelt Brothers — beyond the starry canopy Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen. A loving Father must dwell.

14 Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen? Do you fall on your knees, you millions? Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt? Do you sense the Creator, world? Such ihn überm Sternenzelt, Seek Him above the starry canopy, Über Sternen muss er wohnen. Beyond the stars must He dwell.

15 Photo (next spread): The city of Budapest, ; photographer: Zsolt Hlinka.

16 ARTISTS

The Budapest Festival Orchestra (BFO) in partnership with Müpa Budapest, one is one of the major success stories of the of the leading cultural institutions in international music scene, being rated Hungary. Opera performances, directed among the world’s top 10 orchestras. Its by Maestro Fischer, are also staged as key figure is music director joint productions; following the highly- who, alongside Zoltán Kocsis, was one acclaimed renditions of of the Orchestra’s founding fathers. The and , they recently BFO’s unique system works to encourage performed . the artistic qualities of its musicians to Since 2014, the Orchestra has been blend together, forming an exquisitely dedicating itself to Community Weeks homogenous orchestral sound. Both of free concerts given in nursing homes, audience and critics alike acknowledge churches, abandoned synagogues, and the quality in the ensemble’s captivating child-care institutions. The Orchestra chamber music performances, as well as regularly plays to young audiences, the all-pervasive dynamism with which it including Cocoa Concerts for the youngest shares the joy of music making with the and “Choose Your Instrument” programs audience. for primary school children. They hold Over the decades, the BFO has presented frequent film competitions for secondary the Hungarian audience with such stars school students, while making efforts to as Sir — who until his death reach out to young adults too — not least was principal guest conductor of the BFO, through the highly successful Midnight as well as great musicians such as Yehudi Music series. Their innovative concerts Menuhin, Pinchas Zukerman, Gidon Kremer, include Dancing on the Square, one of Radu Lupu, Sándor Végh, Sir András Schiff, the Orchestra’s priority projects, which and Richard Goode. Maestro Fischer is as much about communal creativity, also makes great efforts to invite young, tolerance, and equal opportunities as it internationally-acclaimed musicians and is about music and dance. The autism- singers to perform for domestic audiences. friendly Cocoa Concerts are another of The Orchestra is a regular guest at the their major initiatives, providing a safe world’s most important music venues and environment for children living with autism concert halls, including Carnegie Hall and and their families alike. the in , Vienna’s Over the years, the BFO has received the Musikverein, the Royal highest accolades. In 2008, internationally- in Amsterdam, and London’s Royal Albert renowned music critics rated the orchestra Hall. They have repeatedly been invited the ninth best in the world. The Orchestra’s to perform at international music events albums have twice won Gramophone Awards, such as the Mostly Mozart Festival, the while their rendition of Mahler’s First Salzburger Festspiele, and the Edinburgh Symphony was nominated for a 2013 Grammy International Festival. Award. In 2014, the recording of Mahler’s The Orchestra’s famous Music Symphony No. 5 received wide acclaim, Marathons and its own Bridging Europe being awarded both the Diapason d’Or and Festival, focusing on the culture of a Italy’s Toblacher Komponierhäuschen for different nation every year, are organized “Best Mahler Recording.”

17 18 19 Iván Fischer (conductor) is the founder made him Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts and music director of the Budapest et des Lettres. In 2006 he was honored Festival Orchestra (BFO), as well as the with the Kossuth Prize, Hungary’s most music director of the Konzerthaus and prestigious arts award. In 2011 he received Konzerthausorchester Berlin. In recent the Royal Philharmonic Society Music years he has also gained a reputation as a Award, Hungary’s Prima Primissima Prize, composer, with his works being performed and the Dutch Ovatie Prize. In 2013 he in the US, the Netherlands, Belgium, was accorded Honorary Membership to Hungary, Germany, and . He has also the Royal Academy of Music in London. In directed a number of successful opera 2015 he was presented with the Abu Dhabi productions. The BFO’s frequent worldwide Festival Award. tours and a series of critically-acclaimed and fast-selling records, released first Richard Goode (piano) has been hailed for by Philips Classics and later by Channel music making of tremendous emotional Classics, have contributed to Maestro power, depth, and expressiveness, and Fischer’s reputation as one of the world’s has been acknowledged worldwide as most high-profile music directors. one of today’s leading interpreters of Maestro Fischer has guest conducted classical and romantic music. In regular the more than performances with major orchestras, 10 times; spends two weeks with recitals in the world’s music capitals, Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw and through his extensive and acclaimed Orchestra annually; and as a conductor, Nonesuch recordings, he has won a large he is also a frequent guest of the leading and devoted following. US symphonic orchestras, including the Mr. Goode’s 2016–17 season features and the Cleveland appearances in numerous European Orchestra. As music director, he has led festivals, including the Edinburgh Festival the Kent Opera and the Opéra National and performances in London, Budapest, de Lyon, and was principal conductor Madrid, Stockholm, Antwerp, and Helsinki. of the National Symphony Orchestra in Other highlights include concerts in Washington, DC. Many of his recordings Hungary and a US tour with the Budapest have been awarded prestigious Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer. His international prizes. He studied piano, recording with them of the five Beethoven violin, and later the cello and composition Piano Concertos has won worldwide in Budapest, before continuing his acclaim. Mr. Goode will also be heard education in Vienna where he studied in recital at Carnegie Hall and at major under . university and concert series throughout Maestro Fischer is a founder of the North America. An exclusive Nonesuch Hungarian Mahler Society and Patron recording artist, Mr. Goode has made more of the British Kodály Academy. He has than two dozen recordings over the years, received the Golden Medal Award from ranging from solo and chamber works to the President of the Republic of Hungary, lieder and concertos. and the Crystal Award from the World A native of New York, Mr. Goode studied Economic Forum for his services in with Elvira Szigeti and Claude Frank, promoting international cultural relations. with Nadia Reisenberg at the Mannes The government of the French Republic College of Music, and with

20 at the Curtis Institute of Music. Mr. Goode Kelley O’Connor (mezzo-soprano) has served, together with , as emerged as one of the most compelling co-artistic director of the Marlboro Music performers of her generation. She appears School and Festival in Marlboro, Vermont, with many of the world’s foremost from 1999 through 2013. He is married to orchestras and has created meaningful the violinist Marcia Weinfeld, and when artistic relationships with such eminent the Goodes are not on tour, they and their conductors and directors as Gustavo collection of some 5,000 volumes reside in Dudamel, Iván Fischer, Louis Langrée, . Donald Runnicles, Peter Sellars, Robert Spano, and Franz Welser-Möst. Her World-renowned American singer Laura discography includes Golijov’s Ainadamar Aikin (soprano) is a familiar presence and Lieberson’s Neruda Songs with Robert in the world’s great opera houses and Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, Adams’ concert halls performing with many of the The Gospel According to the Other Mary greatest conductors of our time, including with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles , Sylvain Cambreling, Philharmonic, and Beethoven’s Ninth William Christie, Christoph von Dohnányi, Symphony with Franz Welser-Möst and the Iván Fischer, Daniele Gatti, Michael Gielen, Cleveland Orchestra. René Jacobs, , , Ingo Metzmacher, , Helmuth Since his spectacular debut at the Richard Rilling, Donald Runnicles, and Franz Wagner in 1997 as Welser-Möst. Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger, Her repertoire embraces works from Robert Dean Smith (tenor) has been the baroque to the contemporary. In great singing in the world’s leading opera demand in both Europe and America, she is houses and concert halls. An acclaimed a regular guest at the leading opera houses interpreter of dramatic and Heldentenor worldwide such as the , roles, his engagements in theaters and Milano, Deutsche Oper Berlin, concert halls around the world with the Opernhaus Zurich, Netherlands Opera, conductors Zubin Mehta, , Opéra National de Paris, Christian Thielemann, Riccardo Muti, , Gran Teatro del Barcelona, Daniel Barenboim, , Opera Frankfurt, and Pierre Boulez, Christoph von Dohnányi, New York. Bernard Haitink, , and Daniele Highlights of the 2016–17 season Gatti confirm his status as one of today’s include Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at most renowned singers. the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Beethoven’s Mr. Smith had the special honor of Symphony No. 9 with the Budapest Festival singing the tenor solo in Beethoven’s Orchestra and Iván Fischer in New York and Ninth Symphony for the 125th anniversary Ann Arbor; as well as Hilda Mack in Henze’s of the Bayreuth Festival in August 2001, Elegie Für Junge Liebende in Vienna. at the with the Festival Orchestra and Chorus conducted Possessing a voice of uncommon allure, by Christian Thielemann. Mr. Smith’s musical sophistication far beyond her recording on Arte Nova of Wagner scenes years, and intuitive and innate dramatic has been awarded the Orphée d’Or by the artistry, the Grammy Award-winning Académie du Disque Lyrique.

21 Born in Kansas, he studied at Pittsburg This season’s opera engagements (Kansas) State University with Margaret include the roles of Masetto, Leporello, Thuenemann, at the Juilliard School in New and Frère Laurent (La Bohème) at The York with Daniel Ferro, and with Professor Metropolitan Opera, Baron Ochs in Strauss’ Janice Harper in Europe. Like many dramatic at Covent Garden, and , he began his career as a baritone Bottom in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s and sang for several years in German opera Dream at the Aldeburgh Festival. Concerts houses. His excellent training and stage include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with versatility allow him to sing a wide variety the Budapest Festival Orchestra in the US, of and concert repertoire in many the Schubert Mass with the Deutsches different languages and styles. Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Kent Recent engagements include Ariadne Nagano, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with auf Naxos and Madame Butterfly at the the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Metropolitan Opera, a production of Ariadne , and recitals at London’s auf Naxos under Christian Thielemann at the and New York’s Carnegie Hall. Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, at the Vienna State Opera, Die tote Formed in 1879 by a group of local Stadt in Bilbao, Tannhäuser and Ariadne auf university and townspeople who gathered Naxos at the , together for the study of Handel’s Messiah, at the Semperoper Dresden, the UMS Choral Union has performed and at the Opéra with many of the world’s distinguished Bastille in Paris, Die Frau ohne Schatten at orchestras and conductors in its 138- the Bavarian State Opera Munich, his debut year history. First led by Professor Henry as in Oviedo, and Tannhäuser and Simmons Frieze and then conducted Fidelio at the Vienna State Opera. by Professor Calvin Cady, the group has performed Handel’s Messiah in Ann Matthew Rose (bass) studied at the Curtis Arbor annually since its firstMessiah Institute of Music before becoming a performance in December 1879. Based member of the Young Artist Programme at in Ann Arbor under the aegis of UMS House. In 2006 he made and led by Scott Hanoian, the 175-voice an acclaimed debut at the Glyndebourne Choral Union is known for its definitive Festival as Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s performances of large-scale works for Dream), for which he received the John chorus and orchestra. Christie Award, and he has since sung at The UMS Choral Union’s 2016–17 season opera houses throughout the world. He has began with its annual performances of sung under the baton of Sir , Handel’s Messiah at Hill Auditorium with Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Andrew Davis, Marc the Ann Arbor Symphony. In March, Scott Minkowski, and Antonio Pappano and is Hanoian will lead the chorus and Ann Arbor already a critically-acclaimed recording Symphony Orchestra in a performance artist, winning a Grammy Award for “Best of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis at Opera Recording” for Ratcliffe in Britten’s Hill Auditorium, followed by a reprise . Other recordings include performance with the Toledo Symphony with pianist Gary Matthewman and Stefan Sanderling in April at the Toledo and with Malcolm Museum of Art’s Peristyle. Women of the Martineau (Stone Records). UMS Choral Union will join the Ann Arbor

22 Symphony Orchestra and Arie Lipsky in church’s Choir of Men and Boys, Choir of March for a performance of Debussy’s Men and Girls, the Christ Church Schola, Nocturnes, and will end the season in May the Christ Church Chorale, and oversees with performances of Beethoven’s Ninth the yearly concert series. In addition to Symphony with the Detroit Symphony and his work at Christ Church, Mr. Hanoian was Leonard Slatkin. the artistic director and conductor of the The UMS Choral Union was a participant Oakland Choral Society and has served on chorus in a rare performance and recording the faculty of Wayne State University. of William Bolcom’s Songs of Innocence As a conductor and organist, Mr. Hanoian and of Experience in Hill Auditorium in April has performed concerts throughout 2004 under the baton of Leonard Slatkin. the US and Europe. He has performed Naxos Records released a three-disc set of in evensongs and concerts throughout this recording in October 2004, featuring England, Scotland, Wales, France, Italy, the UMS Choral Union and U-M School of Ireland, and Australia. Highlights include Music, Theatre & Dance ensembles. The Wells Cathedral; Winchester Cathedral; York recording won four Grammy Awards in Minster; St. Paul’s Cathedral, London; St. 2006, including “Best Choral Performance” Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican; St. Patrick’s and “Best Classical Album.” The recording Cathedral, Dublin; Notre Dame Cathedral; was also selected as one of The New York and St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. Times “Best Classical Music CDs of 2004.” Before moving to Grosse Pointe, Mr. Other recent highlights include a Grammy- Hanoian was the assistant organist and nominated recording project with the assistant director of music at Washington U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance’s National Cathedral where he played the choral and orchestral ensembles of a organ for many services including the state performance of the rarely-heard Oresteian funerals for Presidents Ronald Reagan Trilogy by Darius Milhaud conducted by and Gerald Ford. In addition, Mr. Hanoian Kenneth Kiesler. In May 2013, chorus directed the training choir and founded members joined the Detroit Symphony and and conducted Cathedral Voices, the Leonard Slatkin in a performance of Ives’s Cathedral’s volunteer service choir. Symphony No. 4 as part of Carnegie Hall’s Mr. Hanoian completed his graduate Spring for Music festival in New York. studies at the University of Michigan, Participation in the UMS Choral Union having received degrees in choral remains open to all students and adults by conducting, organ performance, and audition. church music. A student of Robert Glasgow, For more information on how to audition, Jerry Blackstone, and Theodore Morrison, please email [email protected], Mr. Hanoian accompanied and conducted call 734.763.8997, or visit several choirs and musical organizations www.ums.org/choralunion. at U-M in rehearsals, performances, and recordings. Mr. Hanoian attended high Scott Hanoian (music director, UMS school in northern Michigan at the world- Choral Union) is active as an organist, renowned Interlochen Arts Academy, accompanist, continuo artist, conductor, where he studied organ performance with choral adjudicator, and guest clinician. Robert Murphy. Mr. Hanoian has recorded As the director of music and organist at the complete organ works of Johannes Christ Church Grosse Pointe, he directs the Brahms for the JAV label.

23 BUDAPEST FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA

Iván Fischer / Conductor and Music Director Vladimir Fanshil / Assistant Conductor

Violin I Cello Trumpet Giovanni Guzzo Péter Szabó Zsolt Czeglédi Violetta Eckhardt Lajos Dvorák Tamás Póti Ágnes Bíró Éva Eckhardt Mária Gál-Tamási György Kertész Trombone Radu Hrib Gabriella Liptai Balázs Szakszon Erika Illési Kousay Mahdi Attila Sztán István Kádár Rita Sovány Justin Clark Péter Kostyál Orsolya Mód Eszter Lesták Bedő Timpani Gyöngyvér Oláh Double Bass Roland Dénes Gábor Sipos Zsolt Fejérvári Csaba Czenke Attila Martos Percussion Tímea Iván Károly Kaszás László Herboly Emese Gulyás Géza Lajhó István Kurcsák László Lévai Nikolai Petersen Violin II Csaba Sipos János Pilz Györgyi Czirók Flute Tibor Gátay Erika Sebők Krisztina Haják Anett Jóföldi Zsofia Lezsak Bernadett Nagy Levente Szabó Gabriella Nagy Oboe Antónia Bodó Nóra Salvi Noémi Molnár Nehil Durak Anikó Mózes Zsuzsa Szlávik Clarinet Erika Kovács Ákos Ács Rudolf Szitka Viola Ferenc Gábor Bassoon Ágnes Csoma Andrea Bressan Miklós Bányai Dániel Tallián Cecília Bodolai Sándor Patkós Zoltán Fekete Barna Juhász Horn Nikoletta Reinhardt Zoltán Szőke Nao Yamamoto András Szabó Csaba Gálfi Dávid Bereczky Joshua Newburger Zsombor Nagy

Staff Stefan Englert / Executive Director Bence Pócs / Tour Manager Ivett Wolf / Tour Assistant Róbert Zentai / Stage Manager Kathi Sándor / Technician Inga Petersen / Personal Assistant to Maestro Fischer

24 25 UMS ARCHIVES

This evening’s performance marks the third performance by the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the fourth performance by Maestro Iván Fischer under UMS auspices. The Orchestra and Maestro Fischer made their UMS debuts in February 1997 at Hill Auditorium in a program of Brahms and Bartók. The Orchestra most recently appeared in October 1998 with Maestro Fischer at Hill Auditorium with a program of Stravinsky and Bartók. Maestro Fischer most recently appeared under UMS auspices in February 2005 conducting the Orchestra and Choir of the Age of Enlightenment in a performance of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Hill Auditorium. This evening’s performance marks Richard Goode’s eighth appearance under UMS auspices, following his UMS debut in February 1969 in recital at Rackham Auditorium. Mr. Goode most recently appeared at UMS in recital at Hill Auditorium in April 2015. This evening’s performance marks the UMS Choral Union’s 435th appearance under UMS auspices, following its most recent UMS performances of Handel’s Messiah in December 2016 under the baton of Scott Hanoian. UMS welcomes Laura Aikin, Kelley O’Connor, Robert Dean Smith, and Matthew Rose, as they make their UMS debuts this evening.

26 MAY WE ALSO RECOMMEND...

3/4 Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis 3/11 UMS Choral Union and Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra: Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis 4/25 The English Concert with Joyce DiDonato: Handel’s Ariodante

Tickets available at www.ums.org.

ON THE EDUCATION HORIZON...

2/16 Penny Stamps Speaker Series: Ping Chong (Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty Street, 5:10 pm)

3/18 You Can Dance: Kidd Pivot (Ann Arbor Y, 400 W. Washington Street, 2–3:30 pm)

3/25 Pre-Concert Lecture Series: Exploring Beethoven’s String Quartets (Michigan League Koessler Room, Third Floor, 911 N. University Ave., 7:00 pm)

Educational events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.

27 THIS EVENING’S VICTORS FOR UMS:

Karl V. Hauser and Ilene H. Forsyth Choral Union Endowment Fund — Sesi Motors — Jim Toy

Supporters of this evening’s performance by the Budapest Festival Orchestra.